Sippable lid for variable containers

ABSTRACT

A sippable lid for drinking from variable cups, glasses, bottles or any other circular-mouthed container adapted to hold fluids. The sippable lid generally comprises a resilient rubber skirt attachable to a hard plastic lid. The skirt is rubber while the lid is hard heat-resistant plastic. The lid is molded with cylindrical sidewalls topped by an offset parabolic drinking surface that slopes downward from fore to aft. A series of drinking holes are circularly-aligned along the rearward edge. The skirt includes a cylindrical upper sidewall fitted tongue-in-groove inside the lower edge of the lid sidewalls, a frusto-conical ribbed middle section, and a lower cylindrical sidewall having a diameter smaller than the upper cylindrical sidewall.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

The present application derives priority from U.S. provisionalapplication 62/832,031 filed 10 Apr. 2019 and from U.S. provisionalapplication 62/913,255 filed 10 Oct. 2019.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates generally to drinking accessories and, inparticular, a universal sippable lid for use with variably-sizedcontainers.

2. Description of the Background

There are a variety of lids or container covers that are traditionallyplaced over beverage containers. For example, establishments serve hotcoffee and provide a disposable lid with an opening to enable the coffeeto be sipped.

Most beverage containers have a rim with which the container cover makesa tongue and groove snap fit. However, the snap fit retention is notstrong and in the event the beverage container is inadvertently tippedover, the lid or cover sometimes dislodges and hot coffee spills outonto to the floor, possibly burning the coffee drinker. Moreover,disposable lids are clogging landfills and causing severe environmentalproblems. What is needed is a reusable lid which is more securely snapfit onto a container for hot or cold beverages.

It is known to provide a lid that simply screws over the top of acontainer. These provide a better seal, but the arrangement requires athread to be provided on the upper surface of the container whichincreases the manufacturing cost, and also limits the lid to fitting aspecific container size.

Accordingly there is substantial need for a universal reusable lid forboth hot and cold beverage containers that securely fits a variety ofcontainer sizes, eliminates drippage, seeping, splashing and leaking,and yet still provides a natural drinking sensation as opposed todrinking through a spout.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

According to embodiments of the invention, a sippable lid is providedfor drinking from variable cups, glasses, bottles or any othercircular-mouthed container adapted to hold fluids. The sippable lidgenerally comprises a resilient rubber skirt attachable to a hardplastic lid. The skirt is rubber while the lid is hard heat-resistantplastic. The lid is molded with cylindrical sidewalls topped by anoffset parabolic drinking surface that slopes downward from fore to aft.A series of drinking holes are circularly-aligned along the rearwardedge. The skirt includes a cylindrical upper sidewall fittedtongue-in-groove inside the lower edge of the lid sidewalls, afrusto-conical ribbed middle section, and a lower cylindrical sidewallhaving a diameter smaller than the upper cylindrical sidewall.

The present invention is described in greater detail in the detaileddescription of the invention, and the appended drawings. Additionalfeatures and advantages of the invention will be set forth in thedescription that follows, will be apparent from the description, or maybe learned by practicing the invention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Other objects, features, and advantages of the present invention willbecome more apparent from the following detailed description of thepreferred embodiments and certain modifications thereof when takentogether with the accompanying drawings in which.

FIG. 1 shows a perspective assembled view of a sippable lid according toan embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 2 shows a perspective dis-assembled exterior view of a sippable lidas in FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 shows a perspective dis-assembled interior view of a sippable lidas in FIGS. 1-2.

FIG. 4 is a front view of the cap member 2.

FIG. 5 is a cross-section of the cap member 2 along the lines A-A′ ofFIG. 4, with exemplary dimensions.

FIG. 6 is a top view of the cap member 2 of FIGS. 1-5 with exemplarydimensions.

FIG. 7 is a side view of the cap member 2 of FIGS. 1-6 with exemplarydimensions.

FIG. 8 is a top view of the neck member 4.

FIG. 9 is a side view of the neck member 4.

FIG. 10 is a side cross-section of the neck member 4 along the linesB-B′ of FIG. 9, with exemplary dimensions.

FIG. 11 is a bottom view of the neck member 4 of FIGS. 8-10 withexemplary dimensions.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

Reference will now be made in detail to preferred embodiments of thepresent invention, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanyingdrawings. Wherever possible, the same reference numbers will be usedthroughout the drawings to refer to the same or like parts.

As illustrated in FIG. 1, the sippable lid according to the invention isa reusable lid or top, configured for drinking from variable cups,glasses, bottles or any other circular-mouthed container adapted to holdfluids. The present invention is capable of use with threaded andnon-threaded containers. The sippable lid generally comprises twoattachable components: a resilient rubber skirt 4 and a hard plastic lid2. The skirt 4 is preferably formed of a resilient, high frictionmaterial and preferably of silicone rubber, or other suitable rubber.The lid 2 is preferably formed of a hard high heat-resistant polymer,such as polypropylene, polyesters, polyamides, ethylene-vinyl alcoholcopolymer, polycarbonates and the like.

The lid 2 is molded with cylindrical sidewalls 12 topped by a distinctlyconcave drinking surface 14 that is offset, sloping downward fromrearward to forward edge. A series of drinking holes 16 are alignedalong a circular path offset inwardly from the rearward edge.

As seen in FIG. 2 the skirt 4 includes a cylindrical sidewall 42 fittedtongue-in-groove inside the lower edge of lid sidewalls 12. Uppersidewall 42 leads to a frusto-conical ribbed section 44, section 44 inturn leading to a lower cylindrical sidewall 46 having a diametersmaller than the first cylindrical sidewall 42. As described below, thefrusto-conical ribbed section 44 is specially-designed to form afluid-tight seal with any of a variety of variably-sized containershaving circular mouths ranging in size from a first diameter ofcylindrical sidewall 42 to a second diameter of sidewall 46.

FIGS. 4-7 illustrate the lid 2 with exemplary dimensions. Cylindricalsidewalls 12 of lid 2 rise to an offset parabolic drinking surface 14that slopes downward from rearward to forward edge at an approximate 30degree angle. The uppermost edge of surface 14 is defined by a series ofdrinking holes 16, three for example. The drinking holes 16 are alignedalong a circular path that is offset inwardly from the rearward edge. Inuse the broadest part of sidewall 12 of lid 2 sits atop the user's lowerlip and the parabolic surface 14 falls sharply away such that no contactwith the upper lip is made. The lid 2 feels like an open glass. Theseries of drinking holes 16 allows liquid to drain outward and run downparabolic surface 14 falling uniformly into the mouth.

As seen in FIG. 5 the inner lower surface of the sidewall 12 is definedby a 0.01″ notch 124 for a tongue-in-groove fit with skirt 4. Similarly,as seen in FIG. 3 the rim of the upper sidewall 42 bears a 0.02″ w×0.06″1 flange 126 for a tongue-in-groove fit with the notch 124 of lid 2.

FIGS. 8-11 illustrate the skirt 4 with exemplary dimensions. Thecylindrical sidewall 42 has a diameter d1, cylindrical sidewall 46 has adiameter d2 smaller than the first cylindrical sidewall 42, andfrusto-conical ribbed section 44 segways the two sidewalls 42, 46. In anembodiment, d1 is within a range of from 1-1.5″ and most preferably1.2″, while d2 is approximately 0.7×d1. The frusto-conical ribbedsection 44 joins both cylindrical sidewalls 42, 46 at the same obtuseangle between 150-170 degrees, and most preferably 161 degrees as shownin FIG. 10 to maximize the sealing ability of skirt 4.

As seen in the inset of FIG. 10 the rib shape and dimensions areoptimized to ensure a fluid-tight seal with the widest possible range ofvariably-sized container mouths, including those with screw-threads.Toward this end, and given the above-described 19 degree offset angle offrusto-conical section 44 from vertical, each rib 50 has a triangularprofile with a 0.03″ downwardly-inclined face 52 and a 0.02″inwardly-angled base 54. Preferably multiple ribs 50 are equally spacedalong the entire length of frusto-conical section 44, e.g., six (6)coaxial ribs spaced equally along the approximate 0.44″ length. Thetriangular profile of ribs 50 is preferably a right-triangle, offsetfrom vertical such that the downwardly-inclined face 52 departs from thefrusto-conical surface of section 44 by 30 degrees, returning to it at60 degrees. Given the foregoing configuration the skirt 4 can beforcibly depressed down into a container mouth until the diameter of thecontainer mouth equals that of the skirt 4. At this point the mostequally-sized rib 50 encounters the container mouth such that theinclined base 54 of ribs 50 encounter the rim of the container at asufficient angle to deflect the rib 50 inward. As the apex of the rib 50drops below the rim of the container the outward bias of the rubberskirt 4 and the angle of the face 52 continues to urge it downward,effectively affixing the skirt 4 in place. The sippable lid iseffectively secured to the container and renders it leak and spillproof. Once the device is fastened to a container holding a fluid, auser can drink the fluid. The container can be anything with a circularmouth ranging from a drinking glass to a bottle. Regardless, the devicecan be attached such that it fits snugly around the lip of the mouth.Moreover, the relatively flexible ribs 50 can form a seal aroundvariable “twist-top” or “screw-on” grooves or notched openings, such assoda bottles; bottles with compression or “snap-top” seals, such ascertain milk containers; and containers with permanently openings, suchas aluminum cans or beer bottles.

The foregoing disclosure of embodiments of the present invention hasbeen presented for purposes of illustration and description. It is notintended to be exhaustive or to limit the invention to the precise formsdisclosed. Many variations and modifications of the embodimentsdescribed herein will be obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art inlight of the above disclosure. The scope of the invention is to bedefined only by the claims, and by their equivalents.

What is claimed is:
 1. A sippable lid for drinking from a variety ofcircular-mouthed containers, comprising: a molded-plastic lid formedwith cylindrical sidewalls topped by an offset concave drinking surfacethat slopes downward from rear to front, and a series of drinking holescircularly-aligned along a rear edge; a resilient rubber skirt attachedto said plastic lid and having a cylindrical upper sidewall, afrusto-conical ribbed middle section, and a lower cylindrical sidewallhaving a diameter smaller than the upper cylindrical sidewall.
 2. Thesippable lid according to claim 1, wherein said offset concave drinkingsurface is parabolic.
 3. The sippable lid according to claim 1, whereinsaid series of drinking holes are aligned along a circular path offsetinwardly from the rear edge of said plastic lid.
 4. The sippable lidaccording to claim 2, wherein said series of drinking holes are alignedalong a circular path offset inwardly from the rear edge of said plasticlid.
 5. The sippable lid according to claim 1, wherein said resilientrubber skirt has an outward-projecting flange encircling the cylindricalupper sidewall.
 6. The sippable lid according to claim 5, wherein saidplastic lid has a notch encircling an interior of said cylindricalsidewalls conforming to the outward-projecting flange of said skirt. 7.The sippable lid according to claim 1, wherein the frusto-conical ribbedmiddle section of said skirt comprises a plurality of circumscribingribs each having a triangular profile.
 8. The sippable lid according toclaim 7, wherein the triangular profile comprises a right triangle. 9.The sippable lid according to claim 8, wherein the hypotenuse of saidtriangular profile is angled downward and outward from said skirt. 10.The sippable lid according to claim 2, wherein the cylindrical uppersidewall of said skirt has a diameter d1, the cylindrical lower sidewallof said skirt has a diameter d2, and d2 is approximately equal to0.7×d1.
 11. A sippable lid for drinking from a variety ofcircular-mouthed containers, comprising: a molded-plastic lid formedwith cylindrical sidewalls topped by an offset parabolic drinkingsurface that slopes downward from rear to front, and a series ofdrinking holes circularly-aligned along a rear edge, and a circularnotch circumscribing an interior of said cylindrical sidewalls; aresilient rubber skirt having a cylindrical upper sidewall insertedinside said plastic lid, a frusto-conical ribbed middle section, and alower cylindrical sidewall having a diameter smaller than the uppercylindrical sidewall, the upper sidewall having an outwardly-projectingflange fitted tongue-in-groove into the circular notch of said plasticlid.
 12. The sippable lid according to claim 11, wherein said series ofdrinking holes are aligned along a circular path offset inwardly fromthe rear edge of said plastic lid.
 13. The sippable lid according toclaim 12, wherein said series of drinking holes comprise three drinkingholes.
 14. The sippable lid according to claim 11, wherein thefrusto-conical ribbed middle section of said skirt comprises a pluralityof circumscribing ribs each having a triangular profile.
 15. Thesippable lid according to claim 14, wherein the triangular profilecomprises a right triangle.
 16. The sippable lid according to claim 15,wherein the hypotenuse of said triangular profile is angled downward andoutward from said skirt.
 17. The sippable lid according to claim 11,wherein the cylindrical upper sidewall of said skirt has a diameter d1,the cylindrical lower sidewall of said skirt has a diameter d2, and d2is approximately equal to 0.7×d1.